Heater



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HEATER E. V. BERGSTROM ,ff f

ug, w, 1948.

Filed June 1, 1946 lNvENi-OR ER/C BERGJTROM ATToRN/ Patented Aug. 10, 1948 MATER Eric V. Bergstrom, Short Hills, N. J., assgnor to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, a corporation of New York Application June 1, 1946, Serial No. 673,816

i2 claims. i

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for raising the temperature of a granular solid heat transfer agent.

In many processes, the transfer of heat by means of a hot granular solid presents marked advantages. For example, gas oil and other hydrocarbon charge materials may be converted to low boiling oleiins such as ethylene by being rapidly heated to elevated temperatures on the order of 1500" F. and above for a reaction time ci a fraction of a second, say 0.2 second. The reaction mixture must be rapidly cooled at the end of the desired reaction time in'order to avoid secondary reactions in the nature of condensation to aromatic hydrocarbons. Such rapid changes in temperature are dificult to accomplish in conventional heaters such as tube stills, shell stills and the like. The extensive cracking which results under the temperatures which must be applied to confining metal surfaces, rapidly lays down large carbonaceous deposits which clog the tubes and seriously cut down heat transfer emciency.

The above noted disadvantages are overcome by passing'the charge hydrocarbons in direct contact with a bed of highly heated granular solid and thereafter quenching the hot reaction mixture.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for preparing the highly heated granular solid heat transfer agent by generating a ame in a moving bed of granular solid. According to the invention, a very large surface for disengaging the heating gases from contact With the granular solid -is rendered available in a bed of relatively small cross-sectional area. This desirable result is accomplished by utilizing the principle of lateral flow of heating gases through the downwardly moving bed. In order to utilize the sides of the bed as disengaging surfaces to maximum extent, the flame is produced at a plurality of points of varying depth from the top cf the bed and the products of combustion are flowed laterally from the several points to the disengaging surfaces at one or more lateral boundaries of the moving bed.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are brought out by the discussion below of a. specific embodiment thereof illustrated in the annexed drawings; wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section through a heater embodying the principles ofthe invention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view -ln section showing apertured flow control plates adapted for use in connection with the lateral walls of the heater shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Referring now to Figure 1, the heater is enclosed by an insulated case i0 having an inlet pipe ii at the top thereof for admission of a granular solid heat transfer agent such as fused alumina having an average particle size of about 0.3 inch. In the top Aof case i0 is a hopper I2 to receive and maintain a bulk supply of the granular solid. The solid is fed downwardly to the actual heating zone from hopper I2 by feed tubes i3 which are distributed uniformly across the top of the heating chamber. The heating section is defined by lateral walls, at least a portion of which are adapted to permit the passage of gases, for example, the louvered walls shown in Figure 1 at i4. As shown in Figure 2, the feed tubes i3 may be staggered somewhat.

Above the compact moving bed in the heating section is an air plenum chamber defined by the bottom of hopper i2 and a plate i5 parallel thereto. Air is admitted to the plenum chamber by an inlet port I6 and is distributed from the plenum chamber into the heating bed by a plurality of drop pipes i1. Fuel is supplied for generation of a flame within the compact moving bed by pipes I8 depending from branches i9 and a suitable header 2o. As shown, the pipes I8 extend down through the drop pipes i1 to a point near the bottom open end of the latter, at which point the fuel and air are mingled to produce a combustible mixture. Liquid fuel may be used in this apparatus to good advantage but gaseous fuel is preferred since it is possible to produce with gaseous fuel a combustible mixture at a temperature below its ignition point, usually about 600 F. for hydrocarbon gases, and thus produce the ame only after the combustible mixture has actually penetrated the compact bed of solid heat transfer agent. It will be seen that the bottom of each of the drop pipes I'i opens to a void space in the compact bed since the solid will lie at about the angle of repose with a surface in the form of an inverted cone below the ends of the drop pipes i1. When following the preferred method of supplying air and gaseous fuel at temperatures such that the mixture will leave drop pipes i1 at a temperature below the ignition temperature, the ends of the drop pipes are protected against excessive abrasion by the moving solids and against direct contact with the heat-ing flame. In a typical operation for continuous circulation of granular solid heat transfer agent in a plant for the manufacture of ethylene from gas oil, the granular solid mayenter the top of the heater at a temperature on the order of 800 to 1000u F. to be heated therein to a temperature above about 1500 F. The granular solid moving downwardly through the heater will therefore have a preheatlng effect on air supplied by drop pipes I1 and this factor should be taken into account in preheating air supplied at inlet port I6.

As shown in Figure 1, the lower ends of drop pipes I1 are spaced along a sloping plane with the shortest drop pipes nearest to the louvered walls I4 and the longest drop pipes at points which are farthest removed from the louvered walls, It is preferred that the drop pipes nearest the louvered walls I4, i. e.. the shortest pipes. be spaced a considerable distance, substantially greater than the average distance between adjacent drop pipes. from the louvered walls I4. By this means there is provided a fairly thick layer of relatively cold granular solid against the louvered walls I4 in the upper portion of the heating section to act as a heat economizer. This economizer layer becomes progressively thinner toward the bottom of the heating section and substantially disappears at the lower extremity thereof. It will be apparent that the portion of granular solid which has not been heated by flame would show as a V in the section of Fig. 1 having its apex below the end of the longest pipe I1. The hot gases passing through the heated portion will enter a cooler portion against the wall I'4. This is the economizer layer to which reference is made. Gases are rapidly chilled, heating successively further parts of this layer as it passes downwardly until it disappears near the bottom of the heater.

According to the preferred method of operation, feeding a mixture of air and gaseous fuel at a temperature below the ignition point, a llame is initiated in the compact bed of granular solids at a point slightly removed from the open lower end of each of the drop pipes I1. The heat of this flame is rapidly dissipated to the granular solid and the products of combustion from the shortest drop pipes I1 cooled to about the inlet temperature of the granular solid. With respect to each of the other drop pipes, the products of combustion drop to the granular solid outlet tem perature and pass laterally through the bed of heated solid until they contact the economizer layer lying against the louvered walls I4 at which vpoint they give up further heat to be cooled to a temperature on the order of the granular solid inlet temperature. Because of the extremely rapid transfer of heat from the products of combustion to the granular solid, the boundary between relatively hot and relatively cold solid is fairly well defined and consists of planes which would show in the section of Figure 1 as a pair of triangles each having its apex slightly below the bottom end of the shortest drop pipe I1 with one leg of the angle sloping toward the louvered wall I4 at the bottom of the heating section and the other leg sloping toward the bottom end of the longest drop pipe I1.

The embodiment here shown provides a further advantage in that the largest particles tend to move down the sides of the vessel when supplied from a centrally fed hopper as shown. Thus the disengaging surfaces are made up of larger sizes of granules, thus facilitating separation of the gases.

The highly heated granular solid is withdrawn uniformly from the bottom of the heater by meansof a series of flow control plates 2l, 2g

and 23. A large number of flow pipes 24 depend from the upper plate 2| in order to give uniform withdrawal from a number of points uniformly spaced about the cross-section of the bottom of the heating section. A lesser number of orifices are provided in plate 22 so that each of the orifices in this plate draws from four flow pipes 24 spaced uniformly thereabove to cause uniform flow in the pipes 24. Similarly, a still smaller number of orices in plate 23 induces uniform flow through the orifices of plate 22 and the solid is withdrawn at discharge port 2l for transfer to the point of use. Cooled products of combustion from the louvered walls I4 are collected and discharged at outlet 28 for transfer to a suitable stack or economizer.

Referring now to the detail section shown in Figure 3, uniformity of gas discharge over the entire disengaging surface may be insured by placing apertured plates 21 between each two adjacent louvers of the Wall I4 (this view also shows a spacing rod 28 along the discharge face of the wall I4). The apertures in control plates 21 are so -designed as to give a substantial pressure drop across the plates 21 and thus induce uniform rate of gaseous flow over the entire surface of the wall I'4. It may be noted that possibility of channelling is an ever-present concern in passing fluids through granular solid beds. The use of restricted apertures greatly reduces the possibility that gas flow through one part of wall I4 will be greater than that through another part. In this manner, tendency to channel is materially inhibited since the gases will tend to follow the shortest possible path.

I claim:

1. A heater comprising a vertical shell having walls on opposite sides formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said` shell, a hopper above said shell for supplying granular solid material to said shell, a plurality of feed pipes extending downwardly from said hopper into the top of said shell, a manifold above said shell, a plurality of drop pipes extending downwardly into said shell from said manifold, said drop pipes being distributed across said shell between said louvered sides and being of varying length with the longest drop pipes spaced about midway between said louvered sides and the drop pipes of progressively shorter length being spaced at 'progressively shorter distances from said louvered sides, the distance between the shortest drop pipes and said louvered sides being greater than the distance between adjacent drop pipes of differing length, a smaller pipe in each of said drop pipes for supplying a fluid thereto independently of said manifold, means to supply a fluid to said smaller pipes, means to withdraw granular solid uniformly across the bottom of said shell, apertured plates extending across the space between adjacent louvers to throttle gas flow therethrough, and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered sides.

2. A heater comprising a vertical shell having walls on opposite sides formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said shell, a hopper above said shell for supplying granular solid material to said shell. a plurality of feed pipes extending downwardly from said hopper into the top of said shell, a manifold above said shell, a plurality of drop pipes extending downwardly into said shell from said manifold, said drop pipes being distributed across said shell between said louvered sides and being of varying length with the longest drop pipes spaced about alafaco midway between said louvered sides and the drop pipes of progressively shorter length being spaced at progressively shorter distances from said louvered sides, the distance between the shortest drop pipes and said louvered sides being substantially greater than the distance between adjacent drop pipes of difieringlength, a'smallei` pipe in each of said drop pipes for supplying a uid thereto independently of said manifold, means to supply a fluid to said smaller pipes, means to withdraw granular solid. uniformly across the bottom of said shell and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered sides.

r3. A` heater comprising a vertical shell having walls on opposite sides formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said shell, a hopper above said sit-.ell for supplying granular solid material to said shell, a plurality of feed pipes extending downwardly from said 4hopper into the top of said shell, a manifold above said shell, a plurality of drop pipes extending downwardly into said shell from said manifold. said drop pipes being distributed across said shell between said louvered sides and being of varying length with the longest drop pipes spaced about midway between said louvered sides and the drop pipes of progressively shorter length being spaced at progressively shorter distances from said louvered sides, a smaller pipe in each of said drop pipes for supplying a fluid,thereto independently f said manifold, means to supply a fluid to said smaller'pipes, means to withdraw granular solid uniformly across the bottom of said shell, apertured plates extending across the space between adjacent louvers to throttle gas ow therethrough, across the bottom of said shell, and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered sides.

4. A heater comprising a vertical shell having walls on opposite sides formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said shell, a hopper above said shell for supplying granular solid material to said shell, a plurality of feed pipes extending downwardly from said hopper into the top of said shell, a manifold above said shell, a plurality of drop pipes extending downwardly into said shell from said manifold, said drop pipes being distributed across said shell between said louvered sides and being of varying length with the longest drop pipes spaced about midway between said louvered sides and the drop pipes of progressively shorter length being spaced at progressively shorter distances from said louvered sides, a smaller pipe in each of said drop pipes for supplying a uid thereto independently of said manifold, means to supply a uid to said smaller pipes, means to withdraw granular solid uniformly across the bottom of said shell and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered sides. v

5. A heater comprising a vertical shell having walls on opposite sides formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said shell, means to supply granular solid material to the top of said shell, a manifold above said shell, a plurality of drop pipes extending downwardly into said shell from said manifold, said drop pipes being distributed across said shell between said louvered sides and -being of varying length with the longest drop pipes spaced about midway between said louvered sides and the drop pipes of progressively shorter length being spaced at progressively shorter distances from said louvered sides, a smaller pipe in each of said drop pipes for supplying a fluid thereto independently of said manifold, means to supply a.- uid to said smaller pipes, means to withdraw granular solid uniformly across the bottom oi' said shell and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered sides.

6. A heater comprising a vertical shell having at least one side formed of louvers sloped downwardly toward the interior of said shell, means to supply granular solid material' to the top of said shell, means to generate a flame at each of a plurality of points within said shell, said points varying in depth from the top of said shell and in distance from said louvered side, the points of progressively greater depth being spaced at progressively greater distance from said louvered side, means to withdraw granular solid uniformly across the b ottom of said shell and means to withdraw gases from outside said louvered side.-

7. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material downwardly as a substantially compact moving bed, generating a heating flame at each of a plurality of ame points in said bed, flowing the resultant products of combustion laterally of said bed and disengaging them from contact with said bed at a plurality of disengaging points spaced along vertical boundaries of said bed, said flame points being spaced downwardly from the top of said bed at progressively greater depths as the distance thereof from said disengaging points is progressively greater, and throttling flow of gases at said disengaging points to produce uniform flow of gases laterally of said bed.

8. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material downwardly as a substantially compact moving bed, generating a heating flame at a plurality of flame points in said bed, fiowing the resultant products of combustion laterally of said bed and disengaging them from contact with said bed at disengaging surfaces along vertical boundaries of said bed, said flame points being spaced downwardly from the top of said bed at progressively greater depths as the distance thereof from said disengaging surfaces is progressively greater, and throttling flow of gases at said disengaging surfaces to produce uniform ow of gases laterally of said bed.

V 9. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material downwardly as a substantially compact moving bed, generating a heating flame at a plurality of flame points in said bed, and flowing the resultant products of combustion laterally of said bed and disengaging them from contact with said bed at disengaging surfaces along vertical boundaries of said bed, said flame points being spaced downwardly from the top of said bed at progressively greater depth as the distance thereof from said disengaging surfaces is progressively greater.

l0. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material downwardly as a substantially compact moving bed, supplying to each of a plurality of flame points in said bed a mixture of air and gaseous fuel at a temperature below the ignition temperature of said mixture and igniting said mixture to generate a flame at each of said points, flowing the resultant products of combustion laterally of said bed and disengaging them from contact with said bed at a plurality of disengaging points spaced along vertical boundaries of said bed, said flame points being spaced downwardly from the top of said bed at progressively greater depths as the distance thereof from said disengaging points is progressively greater. and throttling iiow of gases at said disengaging points to produceV uniform flow of gases laterally of said bed. A

1l. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material downwardly as a substantially compact moving bed, supplying to each of a plurality of flame points in said bed amixture of air and gaseous fuel at a temperature below the ignition temperature of said mixture and igniting said mixture to generate a flame at each of said points, flowing the resultant products of combustion laterally of said bed and disengaglng them from contact with said bed at disengaging surfaces along vertical boundaries of said bed, said name points being spaced downwardly from the top of said bed at' progressively greater depths as the distance thereof from said disengaging surfaces is progressively greater, and throttling ow of gases at said disengaging surfaces to produce uniform ilow of gases laterally of said bed.

12. A process for heating granular solid material which comprises passing said material down-` wardly as a substantially compact moving bed. supplying to each of a plurality of llame points progressively greater.

ERIC V. BERGSTRJOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 20 Number Name Date 2,386,670 Evans Oct. 9, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25 828,944 France June 3, 1938 

